IU professor receives one of France's highest honors, in recognition of his 40-year career

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. -- Emanuel Mickel, a professor in Indiana University's College of Arts and Sciences, recently was honored with one of France's highest academic honors when he received the designation as an Officier de l'Ordre des Palmes Académiques.

Mickel, a professor of French, received the honor from the cultural attaché of the French Consulate in Chicago in recognition of his long and productive career as a scholar of both medieval and 19th century French literature. At a ceremony in late September at the Indiana Memorial Union, Mickel was extolled by Jean-François Rochard of the French Consulate.

IU Provost and Executive Vice President Karen Hanson, Vice President for International Affairs David Zaret and College of Arts and Sciences Dean Larry Singell all praised Mickel's work in furthering the study of French literature and culture at IU for more than 40 years. Andrea Ciccarelli, chairman of the Department of French and Italian and director of the College Arts and Humanities Institute, also praised Mickel as a pillar of the department, citing his leadership as chair in 1984-1995 and again in 2009-2011.

Mickel is the author of six books including Eugène Fromentin (G. K. Hall, 1982) and Ganelon, Treason and the "Chanson de Roland" (Penn State University Press, 1989), and he also is editor of several works, including the immense 10-volume Old French Crusade Cycle (University of Alabama press, 1977-2003, co-edited with Jan Nelson). He was invited as visiting scholar at Pembroke College, Cambridge (UK) in 2006, and has served as chair of 19 Ph.D. dissertation committees.